Journal of Historical Researches
Year:2012 | Volume:48 | Issue:2 (14)|Papers Count:9

After the martyrdom of Imam Musa Kazem (SA) in the year 183AH, a number of factors got together to make a group of people consider him as the last Imam who is to guide them. Accordingly, they rejected the incumbency of Imam Reza and the other innocent Imams after him. Those who believe in Imam as the last Imam were divided into several groups. The groups were recognized based on the disagreements they had on various issues such as the quality of Imam Kazem’s death, absence, appearance and resurrection. The noticeable point is that the previously mentioned belief was promoted by some of the prominent companions and counselors of Imam Kazem (SA) and since its proponents were of a high scientific and social position among Shiites, they caused several problems for Shia community. The objective here is to investigate what the problems were and how Imam Reza (SA) fought and dealt with Vaqefiyan and their thoughts, words, and actions. Certainly, according to the point that Imams were a role model for Imamiye Shiites, knowing their behaviors while they were dealing with different groups will be of particular importance and reveals the necessity of such investigations.

Writing and painting memories are among important phenomena in the history of human culture; Such activities go back to the beginning of human life. Although the desire for immortality and survival is the primary factor causing these phenomena, soon, with the construction of religious sites and kings’ majestic monuments, written memorials in these buildings which were supposed to be more durable and immortal than common structures become more popular. The issue was taken seriously, especially in religious places, holding sacred and respecting spiritual memories of tomb owners. Such writings, despite being concise and summarized, are pithy. Besides, they reflect the psychology of different historic periods. Furthermore, regarding the ruling ideology and religion in a specific period, they are very precious, but there are not a lot of information and sources available about them. In addition to the previously mentioned cases, artistic values and visual attractions of Pirbakran mausoleum associated with verses and phrases in writing memorials could be tempting to anybody. Pirbakran mausoleum is among the most important structures in the Ilkhanid period. Its special situation considering its location on the way of the local communication paths, and beyond that public belief in the religious status of this place has always welcomed believers and pilgrims. The connection between written memorials of this historic mausoleum and sacred concepts and religious rituals and also attention to historical psychology of the people who straightforwardly talked about their times and lives in the past are defined as the characteristics of these writings. Actually, the present article is an entrance to written memorials in mausoleums of Isfahan and intends to analyze and assess the ignored values of such writings, taking advantage of field studies.

Using the method “narrating history in the form of story”, Ghazi Abu Ali al-Mohsen ibn Ali ibn Mohammad Tanukhi (938-994 AD) critically analyzed the social activities of the people of his time within the framework of his creative style of writing in the book Neshvar al-Mohazere wa Akhbar al-Mozakere.The existence of special, personal, and topographical motivations together with significant historical reports of the book on political, social, cultural, and economic aspects have given a specific importance to Tanukhi’s style in this book and attracted the attention of addressee. Ascribing news and utilizing expressions, which reveal his direct observation of events recorded, is the most prominent feature of his historical methodology.On the other hand, Tanukhi has tried to present expert opinion about the veracity of historical narrations in Neshvar al-Mohazere. Furthermore, both traditions originated from judgmental position of the Tanukhi family and his relation with people of low, middle, and high social classes have given a realistic color to his style of writing that can be seen in his other publications at that time. This article, using a descriptive and analytical method, is going to answer the question whether Tanukhi could picture the social-political history of his own period through “narrating history in the form of story” or not.

In resources on fotoohs (conquers) and books on general history, the names of some individuals as the first fatihs of Azerbaijan and Ardebil are cited. According to the most valid anecdotes available, Hozeyfe bin Yaman, the companion of Mohammad (SA), who was one of the first Shiites and real defenders of Imam Ali (AS), having a deep knowledge about Islam, was the first person who brought Islam with a peace treaty into Azerbaijan and Ardebil. He established a foundation based on friendship with the household of the prophet of Islam. In this article, the attempt is made, first, to analyze and criticize the narrations related to the fatihs of Ardebil and select the valid ones and then to clarify the role of Hozeyfe bin Yaman in Islamic triumphs and the mental and cultural movements of the early days after the entrance of Islam to Ardebil considering the role of other rulers in this area until 660 AD.The article follows a descriptive-analytical method along with a critical analysis of narrations about the victories in the area. The hypothesis dealt with in this article is “Hozeyfe bin Yaman together with other Islamic rulers, who were the first messengers of Islam and friendship with the household of the Prophet of Islam, have been in Azerbaijan and Ardebil; therefore other narrations related to the fatihs of this area are invalid news.

At the time Sheykhie, as a new sect, appeared and was established in Kerman, since the establisher and the other leaders of the sect had kinship relation with Qajar government, their local power in politics escalated. The Abraham family who were the believers of Shekhie affected political changes in Kerman not only because they were considered as a religious group, but also because they penetrated Qajar’s administrative organization and government. Therefore, each Qajar king, in proportion to his religious interest and condition, applied different religious policies dealing with the Abraham family believing in Sheykhie to keep balance and prevent disagreement between the present religious sects, Sheykhie and Motashare’i, in Kerman. During the kingdom of Mozaffar al-Din Shah, because of his tendency towards Sheykhie, religious and opinionative disagreements reached their pick in that the relations between the two sects turned into an argument. This issue is very significant since it is considered as one of the reasons causing The Constitutional revolution.

The beginning of the second progeny of Darbandi Shervanshahs in Shervan coincided with Teymurid attacks. Sheykh Abraham Darbandi (1378-1418 AD), the founder of the local dynasty, and two of his successors, regulating foreign affairs, could protect the local government of Shervan against the powerful empires of Teymurid and Turkaman empires. Not only Sheikh Abraham submitted to the authority of Teymur, but also Khalil Allah sat up a friendly relationship with both Teymurids and Agh Quyunlus. FarrokhYasar, the successor of Khalil Allah, refused Teymurids’ citizenship and gradually turned to marrying and having political relations with Agh Quyunlus. Finally, the growing weakness of Agh Quyunlus, the most important authority united with Shirvanshahs, and the dynamic moral-mundane power of SafavidSheykhs in 1538 AD put an end to the brilliant period of foreign relations of this local government and the life of the Darbandi family. This research seeks to prove the hypothesis in this period, the foreign policy of Darbandi Shirvanshahs towards the great governments and empires of the area has been largely positive and influential.

In the ancient time’s civilizations, peoples’ believes about gods and kings and how to perform rituals and ceremonies were of a special importance. One of the rituals of ancient Middle East civilizations having several related prevalent ceremonies was paying respect to gods and kings. As there have been similarities between the civilizations -regarding their languages, religions, and ceremonies- and they had reciprocal effects on each other, it is possible to figure out what their believes about such ceremonies are. In this article, the attempt is made to investigate the kind of respect to Iranian kings during Achaemenid and Sassanid dynasties, meanwhile, the paintings of Persepolis at the time of Achaemenid and the paintings related to Sassanid are compared with ancient paintings to help investigating the source of respect, the quality of these rituals and the civilizations’ similarities, differences, and believes during the two dynasty.